Senators Question Storage Of Scanned Body Images

The senators became aware of the issue, they said, through media reports. A U.S. Marshals supervisor was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel as saying that "everyone knows they're being recorded when they come into the courthouse," because of all the security cameras, and that "the images [from the scans] are not saved for any specific purpose."

The senators noted in their letter that they found the Marshals Service's response to this revelation to be "troubling," adding that they are seeking "a full explanation as to why the U.S. Marshals Service was saving images from whole-body imaging scans at the federal courthouse in Orlando."

The committee said the response was "troubling" because it suggests the U.S. Marshals Service has failed to fully appreciate the seriousness of the issue. The perception of whole-body imaging scans differs greatly from that of security camera footage, and therefore demands a higher level of sensitivity to the legitimate privacy concerns of those being scanned, the senators said.

"Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) has the potential to serve as an important screening tool at security checkpoints as it is able to identify concealed weapons, explosives, and other dangerous items that would likely go undetected by a traditional metal detector," the senators wrote. "There is understandable concern, however, over the privacy protections in place for AIT devices, as they are able to scan through clothing and capture detailed images of the bodies of those who are scanned."

The senators asked for "a full explanation as to why the U.S. Marshals Service was saving images from whole-body imaging scans at the federal courthouse in Orlando. We also request that you identify any other locations where the U.S. Marshals Service is using whole body imaging technology, whether or not the images from scans taken at any of those locations are also being stored, and, if they are being stored, the reasons for retaining these images."

The letter pointed out that TSA has employed protocols for the use of AIT that includes a "prohibition on the storage or retention of images from whole body imaging scans in most circumstances. We urge the U.S. Marshals Service to examine and adopt privacy protocols at least as strong as those adopted by TSA, which includes a prohibition on the storage or retention of images from whole body scans, and a prohibition on the transmission of these images by any other electronic device."

The letter concludes that ATR is already in use at Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam and is currently being reviewed by TSA "for use in U.S. airports. Computer-based auto-detection technology, which identifies potentially threatening objects on a person using a featureless human body outline to highlight those areas of the individual that may require further inspection, would go a long way to address the legitimate privacy concerns many Americans have regarding whole body imaging technology."

Just recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security accounced that scanners would soon be used at virtually every major airport. The list includes airports in New York City, Dallas, Washington, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, and Philadelphia.

Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to grant an immediate injunction against TSA's body scanning program.

EPIC said on its website that the program is "unlawful, invasive, and ineffective." EPIC argued that the federal agency has violated the Administrative Procedures Act, the Privacy Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Fourth Amendment. EPIC cited the invasive nature of the devices, the TSA's disregard of public opinion, and the impact on religious freedom.